


Having a sister

by KipDigress



Series: Loose ends may tie themselves [1]
Category: due South
Genre: Family, Gen, Post-Call of the Wild, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-08 23:34:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 6,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11656992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KipDigress/pseuds/KipDigress
Summary: A series of snapshots of Benton Fraser and those closest to him in the years immediately after 'Call of the Wild'.Maggie MacKenzie finds out the hard way that Benton Fraser is not always easy to get hold of. Surprises and changes are in store. Buck Frobisher sticks his oar in as much as he dares, and certainly no more than is good for Fraser. Maggie is tenacious and at least one criminal learns that eating doughnuts is not wise in Fraser's patrol area.Independent prequel to the other two parts of 'Loose ends may tie themselves'.





	1. A phone call

The first time Constable Maggie MacKenzie tried to contact her brother, he wasn't able to take her call. Constable Turnbull had not been much use when she'd phoned the consulate, unable to say where Benton Fraser was or when he would be back. Giving up on that, she did her best with her cabin roof and hoped that it would keep the snow out.

A few weeks later, she had been reading through the RCMP bulletin, tasked to identify the information that was actually relevant to the day to day running of the detachment, when she spotted an announcement listing a set of names with which she was familiar. Commendations had been awarded to her brother, Inspector Thatcher, Sergeant Buck Frobisher - whom she vaguely remembered as a friend or partner of her father's, and, strangely, Detective Ray Kowalski.

She concluded that Benton was probably days from a phone. Since she really wasn't on speaking terms with Inspector Thatcher, the choice was between Ray and Sergeant Frobisher. She thought the Sergeant might possibly have access to more information. She looked up his detachment and made the call.

"Could I speak to Sergeant Frobisher, please?" she asked of the constable who answered.

"He's just got back, it might take a few minutes," came the reply after a moment's hesitation in which excited voices could be heard vaguely in the background.

"I'll wait, thank you kindly," said Maggie and settled herself to wait patiently.

"Ma'am?" the constable asked a few minutes later. "What name shall I give?"

"He doesn't know me," Maggie confessed nervously, "but it's Maggie MacKenzie - née Sterne - calling about Benton Fraser."

"OK, give me a minute. OK, you're through now," he said a moment later.

"Hello?" Buck Frobisher said, mildly curious. The names Sterne and Fraser in conjunction making him wonder exactly who was calling him.

"Sergeant Frobisher?" asked Maggie.

"Yes," replied Buck, listening carefully to the young woman's voice on the other end of the crackly line.

"My name's Maggie MacKenzie, I'm a constable with Inspector Mulligan's detachment," she stated shortly.

"I see. My constable also mentioned that your maiden name was Sterne," Buck commented thoughtfully.

"Yes sir, that is correct," Maggie confirmed. "I was in Chicago six weeks or so ago where I met Benton Fraser, when I tried to contact him through the consulate last month, Constable Turnbull informed me that he had taken indefinite leave."

"So why phone me?" asked Buck, confused.

"Because in the RCMP bulletin of three weeks ago, your name was listed with Benton's in connection with some business involving a nuclear submarine and Franklin Bay."

"I see." Buck nodded to himself as he leant against the edge of his desk and waited for the young woman - Maggie - to explain why she wanted to contact Benton. "So how can I help?" he asked when when the silence stretched.

"I'm not sure, sir," admitted Maggie, once again feeling that this phone call might have been a mistake.

"Not sure? So what's the point in phoning me?" Buck spluttered.

"Well, you see, sir, I'm not sure it would be entirely appropriate for me to ask you to ask Benton to get it touch with me when he can," Maggie said hurriedly. "I apologise, sir, if that does not make much sense," she added a moment later.

"Not at all," Buck said gruffly, "just give me a moment to figure out what you did say." He was silent for a bit; searching through his memories to place the name Sterne before he considered Maggie's request. "You called Fraser Benton," he observed.

"Yes, sir, I did," Maggie said, somewhat taken aback that Sergeant Frobisher appeared to have picked up on such an unimportant point.

"Why?"

"No reason."

"There has to be a reason, constable," Buck said firmly. "Very few people call Constable Fraser by his given name, and even fewer don't use a diminutive."

"It's just how he introduced himself," Maggie said defensively - it was the truth.

"From which it usually follows that he would be Fraser," Buck pointed out. "What are you hiding?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing. He said to get in touch, but that seems to be impossible."

"Hmm," Buck said, thinking that it was strange for Benton to ask anyone - especially a woman - to keep in touch.

"I've wasted too much of your time already, sergeant," Maggie apologised after a long moment's silence. "Thank you for your time sir," she said before she hung up, leaving Buck Frobisher staring at the phone in his hand. He thought about calling Inspector Mulligan but decided against it, from what he could surmise, this was a private matter. She'd asked for Benton to get in touch when he could; he would pass on the message and ask for more information when his god-son and his friend returned from the Beaufort Sea. He made a note and slipped it into the second drawer on the right hand side of his desk - the only one he habitually kept locked - the one that contained items that, while not entirely irrelevant to his work, were personal.


	2. Surprising Sergeant Frobisher

When Fraser and Ray returned from the Beaufort Sea, Fraser certainly better and Ray certainly not much worse for the experience, Buck did not remember the strange phone call until nearly three days later.

"I had a rather peculiar phone call about a month after you left," he said one evening while he, Ray and Fraser were sat drinking hot chocolate after supper.

"How so?" asked Ray, intrigued despite himself: Buck Frobisher and peculiar, in his limited experience, seemed to imply a scaled up version of the normal Benton Fraser peculiar.

"A young woman - a constable Maggie MacKenzie - asking Benton here to get in touch," Buck said. He was surprised when the two younger men grinned and Ray tapped his feet excitedly. Who was this woman? he wondered.

"Oh dear," Fraser murmured a moment later, confusing Buck even further.

"Would one of you two care to enlighten me?" he asked, trying to be stern.

"Constable Maggie MacKenzie is..." Ray started, then trailed off with a concerned look at Fraser - was this really something that should be shared?

"My sister," Fraser finished, looking half-horrified. "Well, my half-sister, actually. We share a father."

"Bob never told me," Buck said grumpily.

"He didn't know," said Fraser, and Ray wondered how Fraser could be so sure, although Buck had nodded slowly in agreement. "We only found out when she came to Chicago."

"On the trail of her husband's killers," added Ray: it made a change from the spiel he'd heard Fraser recite countless times over the year or so they'd worked together, but it rolled off the tongue in a remarkably similar way.

"For obvious reasons, she returned to the territories," Fraser concluded.

"I see," Buck said, taking a long sip of his drink as he considered the news. "She said her birth name was Sterne," he said after a few minutes quiet. "I still can't place the name - must be getting old," he pulled a face, half-disgusted with himself.

"Her mother was Ellen Sterne, a trapper," said Fraser, "I don't know if I ever met her."

"Don't beat yourself up," said Ray seeing that Fraser's explanation had not done much to enlighten Buck, his tone what Buck would have described as unnecessarily cheerful,. "In the last few months, even Fraser here has met quite a few people whom he had never even heard of. Strange though it may seem, not everyone knows everyone else up here."

Buck grunted, unconvinced: he'd spent the better part of forty-five years patrolling the wilderness - from Alert to Destruction Bay and Old Crow to L'Anse au Loup, he'd rarely met a complete stranger.

"I look forward to meeting her," was all he said.


	3. Ray makes a point

"You know, Fraser," Ray said after he'd watched Fraser stand entirely motionless for almost two minutes, "Buck did say that it shouldn't be that much of a surprise."

Fraser said nothing: the piece of paper in his hand was something he had never expected to read, and even though he held the physical statement, duly signed by the appropriate parties before being faxed through to Buck's detachment, he did not feel the honour merited. The key message was contained in a single formal sentence; the additional details in the four paragraphs were entirely unnecessary, he didn't care enough for his record to be interested.

"Care to tell me what's turned you into a statue?" asked Ray after another couple of minutes quiet in which Fraser's eyes may or may not have moved rapidly over the page again - Ray would not have sworn to it.

More silence. Ray started to think that calling Buck into the storage room that had unofficially become Fraser's office might be needed since he assumed that Buck was aware of the contents of the letter. He decided to give it one last try.

"Hey, Fraser, Earth to Fraser, care to share?" He waved a hand impatiently under Fraser's nose, disrupting his view of the sheet of paper.

"Yes, Ray," Fraser said suddenly, "it appears that I have been promoted."

"That's great Fraser," said Ray with a smile: given that they'd managed to prevent a terrorist group from holding the world to ransom with a nuclear submarine, it was certainly deserved.

"But I'll have responsibilities, Ray," Fraser said sadly, "I will have to behave with more decorum, running around with you and Diefenbaker won't be appropriate behaviour for a Corporal."

Ray snorted, Buck had appeared in the doorway a few words into Fraser's last speech; his raised eyebrow said it all.

"You know, son," Buck said kindly, "your father was just the same: felt his promotions unearned and then behaved almost as if they'd never happened."

"Thanks, Buck," Ray said, just managing to suppress his to a broad smile. "Besides, won't you transfer?"

"I don't know," Fraser said, finally looking at something other than the paper that informed him of his promotion and meeting Ray's eyes. "You'll be without a partner..." he said, his expression as honest as Ray had ever seen it.

"What has Buck told you again and again about partners?" asked Ray.

"That partners are partners no matter how many thousand kilometres there are between them," Buck chipped in, taking the opportunity to repeat himself, and preventing Fraser from giving several partly contradictory and certainly less succinct answers.

"Besides," Ray added, while Fraser's back was turned as he glared at Buck, "Maggie won't leave the territories, if you're up here, it will give me an excuse to visit you both."

"Ray," Fraser said sternly, spinning round to glare at him, "you know how vast the territories are, that argument is not valid."

Ray shrugged. "I still want to see both of you, you deserve to be home."

"I'll leave you to it," Buck said hearing a disturbance in the main room.

"But what about you?" Fraser asked: true, their partnership had been unofficial, but Ray was also his best friend.

"Don't worry about me," Ray said breezily, "it's not like my position in Chicago is well defined at the moment. But I have kinda got used to the twenty-seventh, it would be nice to stay."

"All right," Fraser said slowly and Ray could almost picture the wheels turning in Fraser's mind as he considered what to say. "I don't have to accept immediately, find out what your position in Chicago is, then we can decide."

"You have to stay here though," Ray urged: after nearly half a year in the wilderness with Fraser, he knew that returning to Chicago was not really something Fraser was looking forward too; besides, the Ice Queen had arranged for all Fraser's stuff to be sent to Frobisher's detachment. There was a message there too: stay home, you've earned it (Ray would have liked to think); stay home, and out of my hair (was more likely).

"Yes," Fraser agreed, drawing out the single syllable. He hadn't told Ray, but he had been explicitly instructed to choose his own posting; finding out where he could be most use would be easier from Buck's posting than from Chicago.


	4. News and promises

"Hey, Fraser," Ray said as he walked into the detachment the morning before he was due to return to Chicago, clearly only half awake despite the fact that it was nearly eleven o'clock. "You going to phone your sister?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"All in good time, Ray," Fraser said calmly, not looking up from the form that he was filling in.

"I'm leaving tomorrow," Ray pointed out.

"A fact of which I am well aware," remarked Fraser dryly.

"So are you going to phone her?" Ray enquired after a few minutes of silence during which Fraser diligently worked through his paperwork and Ray fidgeted.

"Why don't you phone her?" Fraser asked a moment later.

"Because, well, you know... she's your sister," Ray managed, arms flailing as he tried to express himself with his hands rather than in words.

"But I'm busy and you clearly want to talk to her," countered Fraser, "the number for Inspector Mulligan's detachment is under there," he said, gesturing towards his desk phone.

Ray fidgeted for another few minutes before finally giving in. He wasn't certain that this was a good idea, but it was something to do. "Here goes nothing," he muttered before he found the scrap of paper Fraser had placed safely under the phone and dialled the other detachment. He hoped his voice wouldn't betray how nervous he felt.

"Nah, it's not urgent," he said, "I'll call back later." Maggie, he had learnt, was out and not expected back until dark. He shrugged a reply to Fraser's questioning look and placed the phone back on the desk.

Fraser made the phone call later with better luck; Maggie walked in just as he was apologising for having wasted her colleague's time.

"Maggie," he said, his voice warm. "How are you?"

Ray didn't know what made Fraser laugh as he leant back in his chair; he hoped it was something funny in the ordinary way of things but didn't hold his hopes too high.

"Do you want to speak to Ray?" Fraser asked after a few minutes in which at least one set of dates had been agreed - to fix something, possibly the roof of Maggie's cabin.

Ray's palms were suddenly damp as he took the phone from Fraser.

"Hi," he said, biting his lip.

Maggie's merry laugh at the other end went a long way to easing his nerves.

"What have you been up to?" he asked, for something to say.

"Oh, you know, chasing criminals, hunting, rounding up escaped hens," Maggie rattled off.

"Please tell me you didn't just say you'd been chasing hens," Ray said, treating Fraser to a horrified look.

"You heard me," Maggie said with a laugh. "The village hens escaped this morning, most of the detachment spent the day helping to round them up."

"And you're police officers," Ray said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of his tone.

"And part of the community," Maggie countered a little sharply.

"I still owe you dinner," Ray said, abruptly changing the conversation, "you're going to have to face the wilds of Chicago again."

Maggie sighed heavily: "Really, Ray, I've only just got back from the Torrelli brothers' trial."

"That finished in August," Ray countered, it was one of the few things he'd bothered to check since they'd regained contact with civilisation.

"True," Maggie said, "I'll see when I can get time off, but it probably won't be until January."

"Works for me, I think your brother wants to speak to you," he added quietly, noticing that Fraser, after looking through his post seemed about to interrupt.

"OK, take care."

Ray handed the receiver back to Fraser and listened absently to half the conversation, which was, even by Fraser standards, peculiar. He raised his eyebrows when Fraser mentioned his name.

"What was that about?" he asked after Fraser had hung up.

"Oh, nothing," Fraser prevaricated.

"That wasn't nothing," Ray said sharply, "I know you, remember."

"Could we talk outside?" Fraser asked, glancing around a little nervously.

"Yeah, sure," agreed Ray, although there was no one within earshot and it was unlikely that anyone would interrupt them unless absolutely necessary.

"Well," he prompted once they were away from the detachment building.

"I received this today," said Fraser, handing Ray a single piece of paper.

Ray flicked it open, saw the header and looked at Fraser, uncertain.

"Should you be showing me this?" he asked.

"Possibly not, but I don't think it will matter since you should find an almost identical letter waiting for you at home. Maggie has one, and I suspect Buck will too; I haven't seen him since the post came."

Ray looked down at the paper to read the two short paragraphs informing Corporal Benton Fraser, RCMP that Margaret Ruth Thatcher, formerly an RCMP officer with rank of Inspector, had successfully completed her training with the CSIS and would shortly be on active service. The only other contents were a request to discuss the matter with no one other than Constable Maggie MacKenzie, RCMP, Sergeant Buck Frobisher, RCMP and Detective Stanley Raymond Kowalski, Chicago PD, and even then with utmost discretion.

"Spooks," said Ray with a shudder."Hey, Fraser," Ray said as he walked into the detachment the morning before he was due to return to Chicago, clearly only half awake despite the fact that it was nearly eleven o'clock. "You going to phone your sister?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"All in good time, Ray," Fraser said calmly, not looking up from the form that he was filling in.

"I'm leaving tomorrow," Ray pointed out.

"A fact of which I am well aware," remarked Fraser dryly.

"So are you going to phone her?" Ray enquired after a few minutes of silence during which Fraser diligently worked through his paperwork and Ray fidgeted.

"Why don't you phone her?" Fraser asked a moment later.

"Because, well, you know... she's your sister," Ray managed, arms flailing as he tried to express himself with his hands rather than in words.

"But I'm busy and you clearly want to talk to her," countered Fraser, "the number for Inspector Mulligan's detachment is under there," he said, gesturing towards his desk phone.

Ray fidgeted for another few minutes before finally giving in. He wasn't certain that this was a good idea, but it was something to do. "Here goes nothing," he muttered before he found the scrap of paper Fraser had placed safely under the phone and dialled the other detachment. He hoped his voice wouldn't betray how nervous he felt.

"Nah, it's not urgent," he said, "I'll call back later." Maggie, he had learnt, was out and not expected back until dark. He shrugged a reply to Fraser's questioning look and placed the phone back on the desk.

Fraser made the phone call later with better luck; Maggie walked in just as he was apologising for having wasted her colleague's time.

"Maggie," he said, his voice warm. "How are you?"

Ray didn't know what made Fraser laugh as he leant back in his chair; he hoped it was something funny in the ordinary way of things but didn't hold his hopes too high.

"Do you want to speak to Ray?" Fraser asked after a few minutes in which at least one set of dates had been agreed - to fix something, possibly the roof of Maggie's cabin.

Ray's palms were suddenly damp as he took the phone from Fraser.

"Hi," he said, biting his lip.

Maggie's merry laugh at the other end went a long way to easing his nerves.

"What have you been up to?" he asked, for something to say.

"Oh, you know, chasing criminals, hunting, rounding up escaped hens," Maggie rattled off.

"Please tell me you didn't just say you'd been chasing hens," Ray said, treating Fraser to a horrified look.

"You heard me," Maggie said with a laugh. "The village hens escaped this morning, most of the detachment spent the day helping to round them up."

"And you're police officers," Ray said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of his tone.

"And part of the community," Maggie countered a little sharply.

"I still owe you dinner," Ray said, abruptly changing the conversation, "you're going to have to face the wilds of Chicago again."

Maggie sighed heavily: "Really, Ray, I've only just got back from the Torrelli brothers' trial."

"That finished in August," Ray countered, it was one of the few things he'd bothered to check since they'd regained contact with civilisation.

"True," Maggie said, "I'll see when I can get time off, but it probably won't be until January."

"Works for me, I think your brother wants to speak to you," he added quietly, noticing that Fraser, after looking through his post seemed about to interrupt.

"OK, take care."

Ray handed the receiver back to Fraser and listened absently to half the conversation, which was, even by Fraser standards, peculiar. He raised his eyebrows when Fraser mentioned his name.

"What was that about?" he asked after Fraser had hung up.

"Oh, nothing," Fraser prevaricated.

"That wasn't nothing," Ray said sharply, "I know you, remember."

"Could we talk outside?" Fraser asked, glancing around a little nervously.

"Yeah, sure," agreed Ray, although there was no one within earshot and it was unlikely that anyone would interrupt them unless absolutely necessary.

"Well," he prompted once they were away from the detachment building.

"I received this today," said Fraser, handing Ray a single piece of paper.

Ray flicked it open, saw the header and looked at Fraser, uncertain.

"Should you be showing me this?" he asked.

"Possibly not, but I don't think it will matter since you should find an almost identical letter waiting for you at home. Maggie has one, and I suspect Buck will too; I haven't seen him since the post came."

Ray looked down at the paper to read the two short paragraphs informing Corporal Benton Fraser, RCMP that Margaret Ruth Thatcher, formerly an RCMP officer with rank of Inspector, had successfully completed her training with the CSIS and would shortly be on active service. The only other contents were a request to discuss the matter with no one other than Constable Maggie MacKenzie, RCMP, Sergeant Buck Frobisher, RCMP and Detective Stanley Raymond Kowalski, Chicago PD, and even then with utmost discretion.

"Spooks," said Ray with a shudder.


	5. Permission asked

"You know you cannot ask me that," Fraser said, frowning as he held the phone to one ear.

"Why not?" Ray demanded. "Isn't that what I'm meant to do since she has no father, ask her brother?"

"I hope, Ray, that you're alone," remarked Fraser mildly, "but to answer your question, it depends on the situation."

"Depends on what?" Ray took short jerky strides across his apartment; it had taken him nearly a week to find the courage to make the phone call. Even though Fraser was his best friend, Ray still found him scary as hell on occasion, and this was one example. His worst fears were being realised and Fraser was being difficult, although not quite in the way he'd anticipated.

"On several factors, not all of which I can remember at this point, but the important one is that she is of age," Fraser let the sentence hang, knowing that Ray would soon ask for an explanation.

"What do you mean, `of age'?" Ray asked after a short silence, fulfilling Fraser's expectations.

"It's an old fashioned concept, but permission per se cannot be granted once the woman involved is of age - no longer a minor in legal terms," Fraser explained carefully.

"I don't understand," complained Ray.

"Oh dear," Fraser thought for a few seconds, "you cannot ask me for permission to date my sister Maggie, because permission does not need to be asked in the first place."

"So this entire phone call, the week I've spent screwing up the courage to phone you, has all been a waste of effort?" Ray said incredulously, his voice rising as he spoke.

"Not entirely Ray, I certainly appreciate the thought," Fraser hoped he had not antagonised his best friend further, but knew he couldn't be sure.

"Yeah," Ray was silent for a few moments. "So, how is Arviat?"

"You know, quiet, peaceful, as with anywhere, the calm is probably hiding more serious difficulties. I hope to be around for long enough to help resolve at least some of the underlying problems."

Ray nodded even though Fraser couldn't see him. In the months they'd travelled together, he'd learnt a bit about the type of community that Fraser had decided to join. Certainly not enough to contemplate relocating away from the conveniences of a modern city, but enough to understand some of the hopes and fears that lay behind Fraser's seemingly innocuous report. It would take time for the community to accept Fraser; more because of what he was than because of his odd ways.


	6. Diefenbaker plays his part

"Why?" Fraser asked, as he watched Diefenbaker subject the recently apprehended arsonist to an extremely thorough face cleansing. "What have I done to deserve such a disobedient dog?" he said a moment later, when Diefenbaker gave no answer.

"Call him off," the man on the ground hissed, barely daring to move in case the tongue was replaced by the sharp teeth he could see not five centimetres from his nose.

"You broke the law," Fraser said quietly, "setting fire to your cousin's house, that's arson. And if someone had died, you would have been responsible."

"No one was in, I made sure of that," came the muttered reply.

"You can never be sure," Fraser said sternly. "But be that as it may, you are lucky the fire didn't spread. Who knows what would have happened if a gust of wind had caught the fire at just the wrong time?"

"Could you possibly call your dog off?" the man moaned, trying to keep his mouth shut to avoid Diefenbaker's tongue.

"If you promise to stay still," Fraser agreed, to be answered by a slight nod, which he was sure would have been far more energetic under different circumstances.

Fraser knelt and reached over to touch Diefenbaker on the ruff: "Come on," he enunciated clearly when the half-wolf looked up at him, "that's enough." Diefenbaker gave a pleading look and, after one last swipe across their prisoner's face, obediently stepped to one side so Fraser could complete the arrest. After reading the man his warnings, he was silent for a minute.

"What did you eat last?" he asked conversationally before they started on the two day hike back to town.

"Doughnuts," his prisoner replied grumpily. Fraser nodded; it would suffice as an explanation for Diefenbaker's actions. Diefenbaker, trotting at Fraser's side whined, clearly aware that he would be receiving a lecture on the appropriate way to treat apprehended suspects in the near future.


	7. Interruptions and confusion

"Ah, the Frasers at home," Buck said merrily as he surveyed the domestic scene formed of Benton Fraser, his half-sister Maggie MacKenzie, and Detective Ray Kowalski who, for a variety of reasons that he really couldn't form into a coherent argument, seemed to insist on spending most of his vacation time with his one-time unofficial partner.

"Heya Buck," Ray said, matching Buck's cheery tone. "What trouble have you got for Fraser today?"

"I don't bring trouble if I can help it," Buck objected.

"You don't fool me," Ray said. "Fraser's on vacation, if it were a social call, you would have waited till this evening."

"You're far too sharp for your own good, Detective," Buck said with a laugh before turning to Fraser. "I've an escaped convict to bring in," he explained briefly, "unfortunately, none of my staff are even halfway competent at tracking a man who doesn't want to be caught."

"So you want me to go?" Fraser asked.

"Yes, you're one of the best wilderness officers the force has ever known," Buck explained.

"What do I need to know?" Fraser asked, ignoring the inaccurate compliment and trying to keep his blush to a minimum.

Buck pulled over a chair and described what was known of the suspect's experience, location and possible intentions.

"I'm coming with you," Maggie said once Buck had finished.

"No, Maggie, it's not safe," Fraser objected.

"I'm a fully trained RCMP officer too," Maggie snapped, "you should not do this alone. Not only have we better chances of bringing him in if there are two of us, but if something should go wrong then there will be a much better chance of surviving."

"Maggie," Fraser said sternly, "it's too dangerous."

Maggie snorted: "That's nonsense Benton Fraser, and you know it. I'm going too, and there's nothing you can do about it." She strode out and they could hear her collecting her things.

"She's right, you know," Buck observed quietly, "only a fool would turn down a competent partner in such a situation."

"Most partners are not sisters," Fraser said grimly.

They sat in silence for a moment before Fraser stirred himself to pack his kit.

"They'll be OK, won't they?" Ray asked nervously once Fraser had left the room.

"Yes," Buck replied before lapsing into silence until Bob Fraser's son and daughter came to bid farewell. "When are you going to ask Maggie to marry you?" he asked a few minutes after the door had closed behind them.

"W-w-what?" Ray stammered.

"You heard me," Buck said, amused by Ray's reaction.

"I, I hadn't really thought about it," Ray managed after a moment.

"Don't leave it too late, son. I'll be back this evening," he added before he, too, left.

Ray paced the cabin, less concerned for Fraser and Maggie than disconcerted by the old sergeant's perception. He'd told a lie - well a half-lie. He hadn't really thought about when he was going to ask Maggie to marry him, but he had decided to ask.


	8. Offers and refusals

"Why won't you marry me?" Ray asked, hurt and confused.

"Because I won't quit my work and I can't ask you to quit yours," Maggie replied gently, knowing that Ray's reaction was justified. "I love you too well to ask you to stop being a detective," she added with a sad smile, meeting Ray's gaze steadily.

"But I thought everything was going so well," Ray said despondently.

"It is," Maggie replied, "but as I said to Benton when I turned down the offer of one of Pearson's siblings, the current situation is only moderately stable. The likelihood of a significant change is looming - more so now than before, because I haven't said I won't ever marry you, just that I won't marry you yet - and it is therefore unfair on all involved to make a commitment before the changes, if the changes can come first."

"Whoa, Maggie," Ray almost shouted, "slow down, cos I can't follow."

Maggie took a breath as she considered how to explain it more clearly, but her answer was cut short by Ray: "One minute, Fraser offered you one of the pups?" he asked, "And you turned him down?" his voice, already higher than usual with frustration and fear rose another tone with incredulity.

"Yes, Ray, I turned down my chance to own one of Diefenbaker's pups," Maggie replied tiredly. She would be the last to deny that she had been tempted by the offer, but she had an RCMP sled team and training a young dog when she spent most of her time patrolling remote areas just would not be practical. Besides, the pack dynamics were already fraught at times. Tempted as she had been, she knew she would not have been able to do her best by the pup if she had accepted her brother's offer.

"Maggie, I'm sorry," Ray said after pacing across the room a few times in silence.

"Don't be, Ray," replied Maggie softly, "I did what I know was right." She watched as Ray continued to pace, noting how the sharp jerky movements gradually smoothed as he became calmer.

"Why?" Ray asked, eventually, halting and looking Maggie steadily in the face even though he half-feared the answer.

"Being married when you're apart for weeks - or even months - at a time is not easy," Maggie explained slowly, "stresses are put on a relationship and they are not easy to handle. You can't tell me that you don't doubt yourself, or even me, when we haven't seen each other for a month and know it will be at least another six weeks before we next meet." Her tone was soft and her eyes sad. Ray held out a hand, but was neither surprised nor offended when Maggie didn't take it. "We need to discuss what each is willing to do to make this work; what changes can be made within the limits of our consciences," she said firmly. Finished, she stepped forward and hugged Ray, hiding her face against his shoulder, finding comfort and hope in his very presence. Ray hesitated for a moment before raising his arms and holding Maggie close.

"I love you," he murmured, his voice thick with conflicting emotions.


	9. Not a rendezvous

Meeting anyone on the ice of Peel Sound in the middle of winter was unusual, meeting two people within as many hours, the first of whom did not stop to share news, was unprecedented. The second was Maggie who explained why the first had not been inclined for a friendly chat.

"Pearson," Fraser called, "we've work to do." He'd come out for a few days solitude, although it didn't necessarily follow that interruptions were unwelcome. He clambered into Maggie's sled and they followed Pearson as he lead the way across the ice.

"You've left Diefenbaker at home," Maggie shouted after a few minutes.

"Yes," Fraser called back, "he's getting attached to his comforts in his old age."

"Nothing new there," replied Maggie. Diefenbaker's fondness for an easy life had nothing to do with his age, although her brother's acquiescence to the half-wolf's wishes did.

"Besides," Fraser added after a moment, "Pearson needs to stop hanging on his father's tail so much."

After travelling several kilometres, Pearson came racing back towards them.

"We're close," Fraser said, as the sled drew to a stop.

"What do you recommend?" Maggie asked, willing to defer to her brother's greater experience.

"It's your arrest," Fraser said simply, "I just came along by chance."

"How fast is he travelling?" Maggie asked Fraser to be answered by Pearson. "Another fifteen minutes; I think the dogs will manage that."

Fraser nodded, her team didn't quite look worn out although they would certainly benefit from a good break before starting on the return journey.

"What has your malfeasant done?" Fraser asked as Maggie resumed her place on the sled's runners.

"Illegal hunting - bear and wolf," Pearson howled at the mention of wolves, "mostly, some caribou and beaver. He organises expeditions from the abandoned trading post at Fort Ross. I've been after him for nearly a week: he got spooked ten days ago and gave the officers who'd come in by plane the slip. I was up on Prince of Wales Island so took the call, although they couldn't even tell me which way he was headed." Fraser nodded at Maggie's explanation.

"Let's go," he said.


	10. All's well that ends well

Big white weddings were all very well, but Ray Kowalski thought that the simplicity of a much smaller affair, attended only by a handful of close friends and family, was far less stressful and required less pretence. He had resigned himself to three figures in red serge - which was unfortunately nearly half those present. But really, it wasn't significant. He smiled broadly as two of the red serge clad figures approached and glanced nervously at the third who was standing by his shoulder. Fraser nodded once, his smile constrained though his eyes gleamed.

The real surprise came the next day. Just before he left to return to his posting Fraser turned up on Maggie's doorstep, unannounced and with a puppy in his arms.

"What?" Ray exclaimed, still half-asleep after less than a mug of coffee.

"May I come in?" Fraser asked politely, unfazed by Ray's confusion.

"Of course. Maggie!" Ray called, "your brother's here."

"Kitchen," Maggie replied.

"Oh," she said, spotting the puppy in her brother's arms. "Oh," she repeated more softly when her proffered hand was licked delicately.

"I want you to have her," Fraser said, looking seriously at his sister and his new brother-in-law.

"Are you sure?" Maggie asked, she was settled now, so many of her previous objections to a puppy had been removed. "She won't be able to run as she should," she said regretfully.

"Yes," Fraser said with a soft smile: Maggie had accepted the moment she saw the bundle of fur in his arms, her prevarication was her head catching up with her heart.

"Ray?" Maggie asked, turning to her husband.

"What have we got to lose?" he asked with a shrug and a wink to Fraser.

"In which case..." Maggie held out her arms eagerly and Fraser handed her the puppy who squirmed for a moment until she could swipe her tongue across Maggie's face.

"Good luck," Fraser said a few minutes later as he made his way back to the door, "call me if you need help, but I'm sure you'll be fine." Ray laughed and shook his friend's hand. Somehow it would all work out: the puppy would go to work with Maggie since he couldn't very well take it across the border and back every day, and no doubt be trained as a sled dog during visits to Fraser.

"What do we call her?" Ray asked a few hours later, once the shock had worn off.

"I don't know," Maggie replied before going over to pick up the puppy from the old blanket that was its temporary bed. "What's your name?" she murmured, looking into the puppy's blue eyes. "Ah, Suki, that's pretty, but I hope you haven't inherited your grandfather's addiction to junk food," she said in reply to a whine and a short bark.

"Greatness," Ray said, rolling his eyes and smiling.

Maggie tucked the puppy securely under one elbow before she reached over the back of an armchair to snag a cushion to throw at her husband.

**Author's Note:**

> This had been 'unfinished' for six months, but, returning to it, I think it's OK.
> 
> Consistent with the earlier, longer two stories, but entirely independent of them.
> 
> Nothing serious, the characters are not mine.


End file.
